Scroll down or click here for an awesome post from Miss Kayli on a way to save BIG BIG bucks on your textbooks this next semester! But… before you click over check out these FUN features from our Fancy This Fridays link up over the weekend! AND if you want to see recent features you can check out our Featured on Truly Lovely pinboard! It’s filled with lots of AWESOME ideas you’ll want to repin and try!

And last but not least, Dusti of Want to Get Crafty claims these are brussel sprouts that everyone will want to eat!!!
Well, if I’m going to eat them, I hope their yummy… and she says they are! SO this is going on my recipes to try list!

Here’s a Featured on Truly Lovely button for you dolls mentioned up above! We also feature great ideas and projects over on our Facebook page, so if you were featured there, we’d love for you to have a button too!!!!

It links right to THIS very post so your friends and readers will know where to find you!!

So for those of you that don’t know, I’m just finishing up my Freshman year as an Aggie at good old NMSU! {Hallelujah! 1 down!} I’m currently studying Secondary Education with an emphasis in Language Arts. I’ve loved a lot about my experiences as a new college student, it’s been an adjustment but it’s been fun. I’ve embraced late night paper writing and night after night of ramen noodles. But one thing I will NEVER embrace? The awful gut wrenching feeling of handing over half of my summer savings for textbooks. I’m sure you all know about The Freshman Curse. I see it in the terrified eyes of the new kids registering for next semester, and now I see that my first semester, I fell into it too. As a brand new college student, I was convinced that I needed to do everything EXACTLY the standard and perfect way. Despite many warnings, and lots of advice on how I could get my books online and that I should wait a week, and that I could rent, I went into the bookstore a week before classes started and bought every single book on my class list. Mainly out of fear. THAT is the Freshman curse.

Supporting our Aggies as Freshmen!!!

I was out A LOT of money and I didn’t even use some of the books I bought. To top it off, the bookstore would only buy back a few of my books, so I still have a few that I never have and will never use. And mine is just one of the millions of horror stories. Luckily, I grew out of the curse- and so can you!

Enter Campus Book Rentals! campusbookrentals.com is a super convenient way to get your hands on the books you need for a lot less! Here are some sweet perks!

Want some proof? Check out THIS book. Do you see that mind blowing price? Yeah, I actually bought that book last semester {I’m telling you, it’s the curse} and I could’ve rented it several times from Campus Book Rentals for the amount I paid for it.

So let’s put an end to the madness shall we? Save the students in your life from the curse {freshmen or not} and let them know about Campus Book Rentals.

If you still have questions- feel free to give this little video a watch. It’s informative AND highly entertaining. {Shake that fringe, girls.}

*Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Campus Book Rentals. All opinions shared here are my own.

So… I’m not saying this to shock you or throw your weekend into chaos… But did you realize Mother’s Day is in TWO WEEKS!?! Don’t panic!
You’ve got time to order momma/MIL/Grandma/Auntie/etc. all a little something awesome to say, “Hey, I love ya!”
All of the links below lead you to items that cost $10 or less! That’s a HAPPY Mom and a HAPPY wallet!! You’re welcome!

Something like these SWEET chalkboard mugs! My mom loves her morning coffee! Bet yours likes a warm drink now and then too! Or if she prefers a little something cold to drink, how about this CUTE set of coasters to set her drink on!

Hi friends! Thursday already!? Where has this week gone!?!
If you’re new here, welcome to our weekly Bloggie Bestie post! Every week we swap blogs with one of our Bloggie friends and take the opportunity to introduce you to someone awesome and new!

Don’t worry, it’s not an exclusive club, anyone can be a Bloggie Bestie! Just click over here and scroll to the bottom for more info!

Today we’d like you to meet our girl Kristine of The Foley Fam!!!!

We just LOVE this chick and we’re positive that you will too!
She’s a sponsor here at Truly Lovely, so be sure to check out her blog and Etsy shop for sheer awesomeness! And enter our April Group Giveaway for a chance to win ad space on her blog!

So thrilled to be here today! Kassi and I have become great friends thru this awesome thing known as the WWW, and I’m so grateful for her genuine friendship. One day we will be sipping margaritas in Viva Las Vegas together, I’m sure of that (wink)!

She is over at my casa today, so be sure to stop over there and say hello!

Over at my place I share {us}. The Good, the Bad, & the Dirty.You’ll also find somecrafting, baking, my fashion style, and all the bits and pieces that make me {me}.
I can be a wee bit sarcastic, but try not to take offense mmmkay?
We might not agree on somethings, but no worries, we can still be friends! I promise!
If you want to know more about my cool little fam and I you can here.Here are some of my popular posts:

The Shoppe is where I share my love for creating things and sharing with
others like yourself! You’ll find an eclectic mix of handmade goodness
for ladies and sprouts.

Use code: TRULYLOVELY20 to receive 20% off your order!

I would love it if you came over to our space and partied it up with us! Speaking of parties (wink wink), I host a link up party every Sunday!

Anything goes, and I feature my favs on my networks, so you should totally link up and show off your goods!

ALSO I’m hosting a Group GIVEAWAY every Sunday next month, to celebrate my 1 year Blog-iversary!! Be sure to stop by and enter to win the amazing swag that my lovely friends have offered up, even some goodness from Kassi and Kayli!

Hope to see you over in our neck of the woods, sooner than later! If you stop by, please leave some comment love so I can follow your adventures too!

Thanks to Kristine for being the Bloggie Bestie this week and for letting me share at her place!! My post over there is um… interesting to say the least! Would love if you would pop over and let me know what you think!

Hey dolls! Haven’t done a WIW (What I Wore) post lately, so here’s what I’ve been wearing throughout the last month or so… I always feel so weird taking these pictures, but for the sake of the blog….

I wore this to the Diamond Rio concert we went to back in March.
Jeans – Cruel girl, Top – Old Navy, White Cardigan – Old Navy
Boots – NRS doesn’t carry them anymore it looks like, but you can get them here.
(Which you can’t even really see in the picture…)

I say that then there’s no nail polish in that one… Oops. So what do you think?
The cardigan was on sale, so I talked myself into it… Something I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise probably… Keeper?
And the side bun?? I think I like it with the headband?

Meet Bethani of Cheers, Bethani!! We’re sharing her spotlight today because she’s offering TWO MEDIUM AD SPACES on her blog for the month of MAY!
We wanted to get the giveaway started so you’d have a week to enter, then the winners will be announced May 1st and you’ll have the ad for the entire month!!! Whoot!!! That’s right, I said winners! There will be TWO!!!!

Bethani and her hubs just moved into their first home!!! Her shop is currently on vacation, but you can check out all the progress as they clean up and decorate their first place over on her blog.
She also shares delicious recipes, life according to her Iphone Betty (awesome name, right!?) and fun posts about things she’s into (digging that pallet garden she shared!).

When asked what her favorite thing is about spring, she replied, “There are so many reasons why I love spring!! Too many to name actually, but here’s a few. The weather being number one of course. The perfect blue skies and warm weather on the skin is always great, especially when I get to wear a cute pair of open toed shoes.. Also love the smells… fresh cut grass & blooming flowers, herbs and everything in between…. And as crazy as it sounds, the rain showers… Sitting inside (preferably under the covers at home) while the rain showers everything outside makes for a perfect spring sunday. As long as severe weather (like tornadoes) are not included of course!!”

Again, two winners for a medium ad space on Cheers, Bethani will be announced on May 1st!
Enter using the Rafflecopter form below, and good luck!

The hubs and I made Pallet Welcome Signs for some friends of ours and I’d love to share the tutorial with you!

First, hubs cut up an old pallet into several similarly sized pieces. We decided three pieces would make a decent sized welcome sign. Next, I cut out some words in vinyl using my Silhouette SD to make some stencils.

I stenciled the words onto the pieces of pallet using the vinyl stencils, a small paint brush and some black acrylic paint.

You can also see our sign “hanger” in the above photo. The barbed wire was the hubs’ genius idea. Adds to the rustic look, don’t you think?? We simply cut a small piece of barbed wire, bent it to our liking, then screwed each side down on the back of the sign.

So…. What do you think??

Hubs’ was a great help on this one… It would appear he’s got an eye for rustic design.

Have you jumped on the pallet crafting train?? If you have I’d love to see what you made!
Feel free to share a link in the comments!

So… I mentioned on our Facebook page last week that last Monday was a wee bit busy… Kayli’s too. She’s almost finished with her first full year of college yo! She’s gonna be a big bad sophomore soon! What what!?!
That said, we didn’t get around to doing features last week. Which means, DOUBLE FEATURES TODAY! I know, you’re stoked, I can see it in the scroll of your mouse.

I’m digging this simple wall monogram from Jackie at Saltbox House 5. It looks great on her wall or on her mantel, don’t you think!?!

I think it’s so cool when parents let their little ones help out! Sacrificing a perfect design to allow your kiddo to make something their own is awesome! They’ll love you even more for it then if you did it perfectly!
Take this orange nightstand from Katherine at Harper and Ollie’s House. Ollie got to help and I’m sure she enjoyed it that much more!!! Plus it turned out completely cute!

Hello pretties! Happy Saturday!
I’ve got a wedding to be at today for my hubs’ step sister so while I’m away I’d like to introduce you to Alyssa!
She’s a large ad sponsor here at Truly Lovely for April!

Alyssa is a New Jersey girl, living in Tennessee. She has a really FUN Bucket List that includes things like driving an old Volkswagen Beetle and sleeping in a castle!

When I asked her what her favorite thing about spring is she answered with… “My favorite thing about Spring has got to be the weather. There’s nothing quite like that first warm day when you can wear flip flops and drive with the windows down. I love that the days get longer and everyone is outside playing and eating and just simply having fun.“

I could not agree more!!!

Did you see the fun embroidery she made me?? It’s a dead ringer for our header font!!!
I won a giveaway she had on her blog for Oreo cookies!!!! And she made that cute embroidery as an extra surprise!! What a sweetie, right?! And come on… How many bloggers do you know that give away OREO COOKIES!!!!!